Czernowin Chaya
Born in 1957 in Haifa, she commenced studies in composition at the Rubin Academy in Tel Aviv and from the age of 25 has lived in Germany, Japan, the US and Austria. She studied composition with Abel Ehrlich, Dieter Schnebel, Brian Ferneyhough and Roger Reynolds. She has received numerous awards for her compositions, including the Kranichstein Music Prize (1992), Asahi Shimbun Fellowship (1993), Schloss Solitude Fellowship (1996), Encouragement Prize from the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation (2003) and Rockefeller Foun dation Prize (2004) as well as the Fromm Foundation Award (2008), a nomination of the Berlin Wissenschaftskolleg (2008), and Guggenheim Fellowship (2011). She has received invitations to become composer-in-residence from festivals in Dresden and Darmstadt in 2004 and the Salzburg Festival in 2006. Her compositions have been performed at more than 40 festivals throughout the world including the 20th-Century Music Festival in Mexico, Wien Modern, Asia Pacific Triennial in Australia and the MaerzMusik in Berlin. She taught composition at the Yoshiro Irino Institute in Tokyo in 1993–94 and at the International Summer Courses for New Music in Darmstadt in 1990–98. She was professor of composition at the University of California in San Diego in 1997–2006 and taught at the Universität für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Vienna in 2006–09. She was also invited to be guest professor in Gothenburg and Seoul. She has been the director of the International Summer Academy for Young Composers at Schloss Solitude near Stuttgart since 2003 and was appointed professor of composition at the University of Harvard in 2009.
S e l e c t e d w o r k s: Birds for 15 strings (1984), Manoalchadiya for low and high female voice and bass flute, to words by Endad Eldan (1988), Inafor bass flute and electronic soundtrack (1989), LeArye – For Arye for violin and electronic soundtrack (1990; also version for violin and chamber ensemble), Dam Sheon Hachol (The Hourglass Bleeds Still) for string sextet (1992; also version for string orchestra, 2002), Tris for percussion and electronic soundtrack (1993), Amber for large symphony orchestra (1993), A Map of a Recurrent Dream for shō and electronic soundtrack (1994), String Quartet (1995), Afatsim (Gallnuts) for ensemble (1996), Shu Hai Mitamen Behatalat Kidon (Shu Hai Practices Javelin) for female voices, electronic soundtrack and live electronics, to words by Zohar Eitan (1996–97), Six Miniatures and a Simultaneous Song for two sopranos and two chamber ensembles, to words by Zohar Eitan (1998), pnima… ins innere, chamber opera to a libretto by David Grossman (1998–99), Maim zarim, maim gnuvim (Strange Water, Stolen Water) for concertante instruments, large symphony orchestra and live electronics (2001– 02), Winter Songs I: Pending Light for chamber ensemble and live electronics (2002–03), Winter Songs II: Stones for percussion, chamber ensemble (2003), Winter Songs III: Roots for percussion, chamber ensemble and live electronics (2003), Excavated Dialogues for ensemble (2003), Zaide, adaptation of Mozart’s singspiel (2004–05), Pilgerfahrten for boys’ choir and ensemble (2005–07), Sheva (Seven) for seven instrumentalists (2008), Sahaf (Drift) for saxophones, electric guitar, piano and percussion (2008), Anea Crystal: Seed I for string quartet; Seed II for string quartet; Anea for octet (2008), Algae, monodrama for bass and piano (2009), Lovesongfor ensemble (2010), The Quiet for large orchestra divided into three groups (2010), The Last Leaf for oboe (2010), and you will love me back, chamber opera (2011), Zohar Iver (Blind Radiance) for ensemble and orchestra divided into three groups (2011), Gradual Edge for organ and cello (2012), Esh (Fire) for orchestra with countertenor (2012).
